CCSF to miss key deadline, overseer says

CCSF CCSF will need more time to fix problems, state told

Nanette Asimov

Updated 10:24 pm, Tuesday, January 8, 2013

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella delivers a report to the California's Community Colleges Board of Governor's meeting January 8, 2013 in Sacramento, Calif. Agrella has been appointed by the state to insure that City College doesn't lose their accreditation.

Photo: Max Whittaker/Prime, Special To The Chronicle

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella...

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella delivers a report to the California's Community Colleges Board of Governor's meeting January 8, 2013 in Sacramento, Calif. Agrella has been appointed by the state to insure that City College doesn't lose their accreditation.

Photo: Max Whittaker/Prime, Special To The Chronicle

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella...

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella, left, delivers a report to the California's Community Colleges Board of Governor's meeting January 8, 2013 in Sacramento, Calif. Agrella has been appointed by the state to insure that City College doesn't lose their accreditation.

Photo: Max Whittaker/Prime, Special To The Chronicle

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella, left,...

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella, left, speaks with City College interim chancellor Thelma Scott-Skillman, right, before giving a report to the California's Community Colleges Board of Governor's meeting January 8, 2013 in Sacramento, Calif. Agrella has been appointed by the state to insure that City College doesn't lose their accreditation.

Photo: Max Whittaker/Prime, Special To The Chronicle

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella, left,...

City College of San Francisco special trustee Robert Agrella, center, listens as Richard Hansen, president of California Community College Independents, speaks the California's Community Colleges Board of Governor's meeting January 8, 2013 in Sacramento, Calif. Agrella has been appointed by the state to insure that City College doesn't lose their accreditation.

Sacramento -- City College of San Francisco will not be able to fix all of its financial and managerial problems by the March 15 deadline to retain accreditation, and the best it can hope for is to win more time to work on its issues, a special trustee told state officials Tuesday.

"We're making significant progress. I don't want to minimize that," Bob Agrella told the college system's Board of Governors in his first report since the board appointed him in October to oversee City College's efforts to remain open and accredited.

The vast college of 85,000 students learned in July that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges will yank its seal of approval and shut it down if it cannot quickly repair years of management problems that have led the college to live beyond its means.

Although the college has made many changes since then - including improving long-term budgeting and bringing in more experienced leaders - there remain pockets of resistance to other essential reforms, Agrella said, expressing particular frustration with labor unions. He cited other groups, including college trustees themselves, as continuing to resist some major changes.

For example, the college operates nine campuses, now known as "centers," and may not be able to afford them all.

"But the mere mention of closing certain centers has caused much acrimony at board meetings," Agrella told the Board of Governors at its meeting in Sacramento.

He also pointed to local battles over salary givebacks and a reduced role for faculty in running the college as examples of obstacles that will keep the college from fixing everything by the March 15 deadline.

"That's going to be an impossibility in my opinion," Agrella said.

Will ask for extension

Given progress so far, however, Agrella said he and interim Chancellor Thelma Scott-Skillman will ask the accrediting commission to use its legal authority to extend the deadline or, at least, to place City College on probationary status when it issues its judgment three months later, on June 10. "That would be good," Agrella said. "I don't think we'll move to full accreditation."

Manuel Baca, president of the Board of Governors, listened to Agrella's presentation with dismay.

"This is sounding like the fiscal cliff discussion - but worse," he said. "Is it likely to improve?"

"There's always hope," Agrella replied. "The college is filled with a lot of people who really care for City College. As for labor, I'm hopeful that the logjams will be solved amicably."

Union resists pay cut

Last month, City College unilaterally imposed an across-the-board pay cut of 8.8 percent, for which the faculty's union, the American Federation of Teachers, filed an unfair labor practices complaint. This month, the college is also laying off 34 full-time clerical workers, 20 to 30 part-time instructors and 18 part-time counselors.

It's part of wage cuts and layoffs of at least $6 million that the college says it needs immediately to make up for an enrollment plunge of about 3,000 students this spring.

Agrella told the Board of Governors that the union's position is that salary cuts aren't needed because San Francisco voters recently approved Proposition A, a parcel tax to benefit City College that's expected to bring in about $16 million a year beginning this summer. But he said college officials want to use the money to shore up the school's dangerously low reserves and to pay pension obligations.

Union President Alisa Messer, who was not at the meeting, said the administration hasn't shown that salary cuts are needed. Nor does she believe the college has the right to use Prop. A money for the reserves or pensions.

"The fact that the administration thinks it can divert that money and use it for reasons completely unrelated to the promises that we made to the public is a huge misstep," Messer said, noting that voters were told the money would be used to avoid layoffs and maintain quality education. "Our concern is that the goodwill of San Franciscans will be used up."

Another debate unlikely to be resolved before March 15 involves streamlining governance. In October, City College trustees voted to require many department chairs to give up administrative duties and return to the classroom, for a savings of $2 million a year. The accrediting commission cited the current system as too cumbersome and expensive. But department chairs are resisting the new approach.

"Let me be clear: The acrimony around this change continues to be a rallying cry at the college," Agrella said. "This perspective is, of course, entirely opposite of the findings of the accrediting commission."

Faculty not convinced

Karen Saginor, president of the faculty senate, said the faculty remains unconvinced that the new approach will be better for students.

"I have no objection to changing the way things are," said Saginor, who wasn't at the meeting. "But even if you have to change things in a hurry, you want to change them to something better."

Meanwhile, state community college leaders agreed that City College's status remains precarious.

"Dr. Agrella's report today was sobering," said Brice Harris, chancellor of the state's community college system. "We remain very worried about the accrediting status of City College."

The accrediting commission did not respond to questions about whether it would extend City College's deadline. But Harris confirmed the commission is legally permitted to do so.